United States in OSCE calls on Russia to release Sushchenko and Sentsov

Harry Kamian, the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, said this in a statement at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting in Vienna on Thursday, November 22.

“We join the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and others in calling for the release of Ukrainian National News Agency journalist Roman Sushchenko and Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, just two of the more than 70 Ukrainians unjustly imprisoned in occupied Crimea and Russia,” he said.

The American diplomat also called on the Russian Federation to secure the release of Stanislav Aseyev, a journalist for Radio Liberty, who has been held captive in the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” since June 2017.

The U.S. representative to the OSCE stressed that the Russian Federation both domestically and abroad seeked to undermine freedom of expression, and independent journalism was increasingly under pressure in Russia. In this regard, he condemned, in particular, the recent reports of intimidation and death threats directed at Novaya Gazeta journalists.

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